A KENDAL darts player is looking to make a comeback to the professional circuit.
Tony Newell plans to return in 2021 and work his way back onto the Professional Darts Championship.
The former Windermere school caretaken navigated Q school back in 2014 and secured a two-year spot on the PDC circuit.
Tony became one of only 128 holders of a much sought-after tour card.
Tony said: “I am playing on the PDC Challenge Tour after six years on the main tour, and I only missed out on regaining my tour card in January.
“After a decent start to my PDC career, I was able to reach a pro tour quarter final. Qualifying for several European and televised events and making my main TV stage debut at the UK open in 2016 the past couple of years had been a bit of a struggle.
“A loss of sponsorship meant going back to work as me and my partner have just had a little boy so I wanted to make sure everything was right for him, plus the increased standard in the PDC and lack of practice time due to work, it was getting harder and harder to gain the results that I had achieved in the past.
“Last year was definitely my toughest as I didn’t register a ranking match win in my first 18 attempts but after the summer break I went back to basics and changed my equipment more to what I am used to which got me from super league, to county and eventually PDC level.
“When we finally came out of lockdown I entered into a local competition and even got to the final of after not really playing for 5 months.
“The PDC then announced that the final challenge tour weekend would be happening at the start of October, but I wasn’t going to go as it would’ve been expensive and I had hardly been playing.
"Luckily my shirt sponsor CG Sportswear and a local company KQR (Kendal quality roofing) came to my aid and helped pay for the weekend and I managed a last 16 and a quarter final, which I was happy about considering the lack of practice but also the standard I was up against.
“My next tournament will be Q school in January and the way I played at the last challenge tour has given me my hunger back for the game and I’ve been back the practice board again ready to hit the ground running come January.
“I still believe I have the game to compete on the main tour so I’ll continue to work hard and hopefully over the next year or two and hopefully start achieving the results that I believe I can get.
"However, I am also on the lookout for a sponsor so I can get back to the top tier of darts and hopefully make a name for myself.”
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